No. 24 College of San Mateo and unranked Foothill College will both take the weekend off to get ready for conference play on Oct. 15. And though they possess identical 2-3 records at the midway point of the community college football season, the bye week offers different opportunities for the two programs.

“I think the biggest thing is we’re banged up and we’ve got some guys hurting,” CSM coach Larry Owens said. “We’ve got some guys that didn’t play the game last week and hopefully we can get them healthy and get them going for the second half of the season.”

The Bulldogs, who play in the National Bay 6, didn’t have their top wide receiver Ramiah Marshall, top pass rusher Kwami Jones and veteran nickel corner Keenan Johnson available during a 40-13 loss at No. 6 American River on Saturday.

But just as big of a concern was a lack of execution, an Achilles’ heel throughout the preseason.

“We didn’t do the little things very well in the first half, and that’s what gave us our record at 2-3,” Owens said. “So we just have to get better and hopefully mature. We can’t have as many penalties as we’ve had in the games, and sometimes they come at really critical situations.”

The schedule doesn’t get any easier, with matchups against No. 3 Santa Rosa, No. 8 Diablo Valley and No. 14 City College of San Francisco on the horizon.

“For me, the whole situation is not about who we play, it’s about us,” Owens said. “And until we can get some of the problems squared away and taken care of and ironed out and nail things down, every game is going to be tough.”

Foothill, which plays in the American Pacific 7, is coming off two victories in a three-week span after going winless the previous season. The Owls come in tied for fourth in their league, but the concern is not about teams such as unbeaten No. 19 Shasta.

“Every game is going to be a challenge for us just because we’re not exactly where we want to be yet,” Foothill coach Kelly Edwards said. “But like I tell the kids, climb the ladder each week and we’ll get better and better, and see what happens.”

Foothill was finally able to establish the run in Saturday’s 18-13 victory at San Jose City College.

“The kids finally are starting to turn a corner, I think, offensive-line wise by trusting in each other and working together,” Edwards said.

Running back Emery Doss, a 5-foot-7 freshman out of Leland in San Jose, gained 134 yards on 31 carries.

“He’s shifty, he reads well, he hits the hole hard, but he’s not going to be that guy that breaks it for 60 or 70 yards,” Edwards said. “He runs with his pads low, he’s very down-to-ground type of runner.”

The offense still turned the ball over three times (2 INT, fumble), which seems par for the course this season. But the defense didn’t allow any points in the second half, with defensive end Josh Lauese (Sequoia-Redwood City) recording a sack.

“We’ve put them in so many holes,” Edwards said. “And every time we’ve turned the ball over, they’ve responded. They’re definitely the cornerstone of our team, there’s no doubt about it. And they continue to keep us in football games. That’s going to continue the rest of the year.”

Players on both teams enjoyed a three-day weekend, but Monday it’s back to practice at CSM and Foothill.

Vytas Mazeika is a sports reporter at The Daily News based out of Menlo Park. He covers athletics at every level, from high school to Stanford to the pros. He also designs the sports pages and copy edits for The Daily News print edition. Mazeika graduated from Carlmont High in 1994 and earned an English bachelor's degree from UCLA.

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